


All Tangled Up

by Forbesfever



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Brainwashed Assassins, F/M, Hydra (Marvel), Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Red Room
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2018-06-08 17:04:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6865162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forbesfever/pseuds/Forbesfever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When T'Challa's doctors cannot figure out how to help Bucky, an ally shows up to offer their assistance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unlikely Ally?

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: If I owned any of these characters things would be very different// This is my first aou post, so be kind.

It’s only been a few days since Bucky had gone under, and Steve has been taking advantage of T’Challa’s hospitality, using the time to recoup from his fight with Tony. Other than T’Challa, the doctors and some staff, Steve has not had much contact with the outside world after he sent his letter to Tony. That is why Steve is very surprised when T’Challa tells him they will be having a guest for dinner. It is anyones guess who this guest is, but it serves to make Steve a little nervous when he leaves his room for dinner. 

When Steve gets to the dining area, it is like all of the other nights he has eaten dinner in T’Challas home. One long table filled with food, some native Wagndan food and some american food, with a chair at each end of the table, except tonight there is another chair in between the two ends. Seeing that T’Challa is already seated and serving himself food, Steve follows his lead. T’Challa breaks the usual silence when he says “Our guest is running a little late tonight, but I believe they will be here soon.”Steve nods his head in acknowledgment but his mind is whirring with the possibilities of who will walk through the door next. 

The two men are about halfway through their meal when the front door opens, and they can hear two pairs of heels making their way to the dining room. The door to the dining room is opened and Steve can see one of T’Challa’s assistants in the doorway blocking the visitors body from Steves line of sight.

“Your highness, your guest has arrived,” the woman announces to T’Challa, and T’Challa thanks her while standing and dismissing her as well. The woman nods and steps away from the door, revealing the aforementioned visitor to Steve. 

As soon as Steve can see the hair he knows exactly who the visitor is, and he cannot say he is too surprised. He thought no one had known where he was hiding, but he can always count on Natasha to be the exception to everything he is ever sure of. She hugs T’Challa for a moment but she never takes her eyes off of Steve over his shoulder. When she parts form T’Challa she slowly makes her way towards Steve as if she is worried she will startle him. She stops about a foot away, most likely waiting for him to make the next move. 

“Hey,” she says with a small smile, and he can’t help but smile as he returns her greeting. He waits a minute before closing the distance between them and sweeping Natasha up into a big hug. He has missed her. She had been one of his only constants after leaving the ice, and she was his partner. He can’t say he hadn't been hurt when she had sided with Tony over the accords, but she had come back to him in the end, and she was here now.

Once Steve released Natasha from the hug, T’Challa ushered her to the empty seat and she started loading her plate with food. Steve and T’Challa retook their seats and T’Challa resumed his meal but Steve couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of Natasha, and he couldn’t help but wonder why she was here. 

It wasn’t long before the reason for Natasha’s visit was revealed. Once she had finished her dinner she daintily wiped her mouth, and it seemed that was the signal to begin the business talk. 

“I’m here to help the doctors with Bucky,” was the shocking statement she started with. Steve almost wanted to laugh, because the best doctors that a King could find were making no progress on helping Bucky. But, if anyone could help more than one of the worlds best doctors, it would most certainly be Natasha Romanoff. 

T’Challa turned to Steve next and began to fill Steve in on the details “My doctors are not making much progress with Mr. Barnes, so in a last ditch effort I contacted Ms. Romanoff hoping she may be able to hand us some contacts who would be able to assist us, but she surprised me when she said she could personally help us,” T’Challas last statement held a tone of the same curiosity Steve was filled with regarding Natasha’s apparent knowledge of Hydra brain wiring. 

“A girls got to keep some secrets boys,” was her ever cryptic response. T’challa chuckled but Steve just continued to gaze at Natasha like she was a puzzle he was still trying to figure out. 

T’Challa led Natasha to her room while Steve began his nightly routine of going to check in on Bucky. Once he had finished that, he returned to his room to see Natasha sitting on his bed, garnering no surprise from him. Their eyes met for a moment until he turned to grab his night clothes from his dresser and go into the bathroom to change. 

When Steve exited the bathroom, Natasha was sitting at the top of the bed leaning against the headboard and Steve walked over and gently sat next to her. He waited a few seconds before he asked the question that had plagued his mind ever since dinner. “So, how do you know how to help Bucky?”

At the sound of Steves voice, Natasha slumped and sighed deeply before answering “Steve I’m about to tell you something very personal that very few know about the great Black Widow. When I was first recruited, I worked and trained with the Red Room. When I finished my training, I was obviously sent on missions. But what few know about the Red Room is that it was a close affiliated with Hydra. This meant that when Hydra learned how to create the perfect, compliant soldier, they shared it with the Red Room. Hydra was not the only organization that screwed with its operatives minds and turned them into the perfect soldier.”

Natasha took a breath here, but Steve was too stunned to say anything. This moment was Natasha opening up to him, and he was not about to ruin it. 

After a few more silent seconds, Natasha continued “There were times after we came out of a freeze where the brainwashing would wear off, but there were not many times when that meant that the operative became defiant. More that they became more aware of their actions. It was during one of these instance where Clint found me,” she started smiling at that point of the story. “He was able to get through my soviet brainwashing and convince me to come with him back to SHIELD. When I got to SHIELD, they knew about the things that the Red Room and Hydra were doing. Most importantly about the trigger words and phrases,” Natasha began to sound a lot more robotic at this point

“These words and phrases were what the scientists used to revert us back to the perfect soldier mind sets. I had to go through the deprogramming and I can try to get in contact with the scientists who worked on my deprogramming to help Bucky.” 

Steve was stunned silent for a minute before he slowly began to raise his arm to place it around Natasha in a side hug. As they were in the embrace Natasha spoke again “Theres one more thing but I don’t know how you're going to feel about it.” He looked down at Natasha only to see her staring out of the window, into the darkness. 

“I knew Bucky,” she admitted “While he was the soldier. We were partners, he helped to train me.”

Steve felt like all the air had been sucked out of him. Natasha had known Bucky- no, she had known the Winter Soldier. Natasha sat up to face Steve and he knew she was trying to read his reaction. 

“Did you know he and Bucky were the same person?” questioned Steve. 

Her answer gave him some weird sense of relief “No, he didn’t even know he was Bucky.” Steve let out the breath that he had been holding. He slumped down and pulled the cover up over him before looking at Natasha again. 

“Are you staying?” he asked. 

She smirked before saying “Now how could I resist an invitation to share a bed with the mighty Captain America,” she teased. He gently whacked her on the leg before she climbed under the covers. He laid on his back, with Natasha a warm line on his right side. They were on their separate sides of the bed, but Steve knew that in the morning they would wake up with their bodies tangled together like all the times before.


	2. Getting the band back together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, I was totally shocked at the positive responses for the first chapter. So heres #2! Also I really wanted my bbs back together so this chapter happened.

The next day, Steve wakes up alone, but he is not worried. Natasha can never seem to sleep past six, always up and being productive before most people can even function without coffee. He walks into the kitchen, and is not surprised to find her sitting at the breakfast bar reading on a tablet. She has a coffee cup in front of her, and a half eaten croissant on a plate next to the tablet and is wearing a t-shirt that looks suspiciously big (and familiar) on her. 

Steve smiles to himself before walking fully into the room and straight for the coffee pot. The coffee in Wakanda is so amazing it is almost unfair. Once Steve fills his cup and takes a big gulp , he cant help but groan softly as the fantastic coffee washes down his throat. He doesn’t miss Natasha’s smirk when she hears his groan and he smiles and walks over to join her at the bar. 

She is looking at the news on her tablet and he is not surprised to see that Tony is on the front page. Steve notices that Tony looks worse than he has ever seen him. He has large purple bags under his eyes which are blood shot, and he looks like he has lost weight as well. Steve frowns at the screen over Nat’s shoulder before returning back to his coffee, deep in thought. 

When Steve hits the bottom of his cup, he glances up only to see that Natasha is staring at him with a fond smile on her face. He returns her smile before getting up and placing his mug in the sink and leaning against the cabinets facing her. 

“So,” he starts “Whats our first move?”

She does’t even glance up from her tablet to reply “First, we need Bucky out of cry.”

Steve is shocked that the first step is such big one, but he trusts Natasha. He pulls his phone out to call down to the labs, and let them know of the change of plans. Once he hangs up, Natasha has cleared her place at the bar and has her tablet under her arm, looking up at Steve with a look on her face that means nothing but trouble. 

 

Natasha decides to drag Steve out to experience Wakanda, since she had heard from T’Challa that he had not made the effort to explore yet. There is a small town place about fifteen minutes from T’Challa’s home, and Natasha and Steve wear disguises as not to be recognized by anyone and let it get out where they were currently hiding. 

Steve thought they would talk while exploring the marketplace, but Natasha is more interested in checking out what each stall is selling, and is conversing the people in their native language. Sometimes, Steve can’t help but be amazed with all of the knowledge Natasha has. She speaks more languages than he could probably count, and could most likely take a nation down in a single day if she really wanted to. Steve was glad, in the end that Natasha was a friend and not an enemy. 

When Steve and Natasha returned from their excursion, they were alerted that Bucky was unfrozena and awake. Steve went down to the lab Bucky was kept in and walked straight in, while Natasha hung back, out of sight. 

Bucky looked confused, sitting in a chair with the Doctors checking over humanoid looked up when Steve entered. 

“Steve, why did you wake me up?” Bucky asked in a tired voice

“Buck,” Steve said slowly “I found someone who thinks they can help you.” 

At that Natasha walked in, and Bucky looked at her with confusion on his face, slowly turning into recognition. “Привет Джеймс,” (Hello James) she said with a smile on her face. At the sound of the Russian words leaving Natasha’s mouth, Bucky seemed to enter a trance. Steve glanced warily towards Natasha, who simply nodded at Steve.

About a minute later, Bucky snapped out of his daze and spoke sharply “Наташа , что ты здесь делаешь?”(Natasha, what are you doing here?) 

Natasha smiled at Bucky before answering “Я избавился от своего программирования , и я здесь, чтобы помочь вам избавиться от вашей” (I got rid of my programming, and am here to help you get rid of yours)

Bucky slumped and looked at the floor, before meeting Natasha’s eyes again. “Alright,” he said “What’s first?”

 

After Steve had broken his team out of prison, they had all split up to keep safe. They were still fugitives in the eye’s of the accords, and that meant they weren’t in the clear yet. 

Sam had tried to come to Wakanda with Steve, but Steve had told Sam that it wasn’t safe. Sam reluctantly agreed with Steve, but he didn’t go far. Sam went to a small city in Laos, where he could blend in but be close to Steve if Steve ever needed him. 

Sam was going through his weekly routine of turning his phone on on Saturday, in order to avoid his burner phone being tracked. Most of the time he just called to check in on Steve and turned his phone off again, but this week once he hung up with Steve, received a phone call from an unknown number. There were not many people who could have this number, so he answered the call cautiously.

“Hello?” he answered cautiously. 

“Hey there bird brains,” replied a teasing voice from the other end of the line. Sam breathed a sigh of relief when he recognized the voice as friendly. 

“Nat, how the hell did you get this number?” he questioned incredulously. 

“From Steve's phone of course,” she answered nonchalantly. 

Sam closed his eyes and dragged his hand down his face while sighing heavily “You’re in Wakanda, with Steve and Barnes aren’t you,” he asked. 

She laughed before answering him “I know how to help Barnes, Steve didn’t get a choice in the matter, just like he doesn’t get a choice in this. Im getting the band back together. I’ve sent you a ticket for the next train into Wakanda, there will be a car at the station to bring you to the Palace. Now, do you have any clue where Wanda is?”  
As soon as Clint had gotten free from prison, he had come home, grabbed Laura and the kid’s and left again. Clint had a safe house in the hills of Ireland, that very very few knew about, and by very few he meant Nat and Fury. The kids loved the weather in Ireland, and Laura loved the market down the hill in a small village, where she could get fresh food whenever the mood struck. 

The kids and Laura had settled into a sense of normalcy, but Clint never stopped looking over his shoulder. His being a fugitive was still very real, and he wanted to be prepared for whatever the accords had in store for him. He returned from the market to get more firewood, only to see an unfamiliar black sedan outside the house the Baton’s had been living in. Clint set the wood down on the side of the house and proceeded to the rear entrance of the house, in hopes of finding out if their visitor was friend or foe before the visitor realized he was here. 

Clint eased the back door opening, only to hear silence. He closed the door softly and went to start up the stairs only to hear a throat clear behind him. He whipped around to see his best friend leaning against the fridge, grinning at him. He groaned before shaking his head and walking towards her to give her a hug. 

She laughed into his ear while he grumbled about her giving him a heart attack. She pulled away from him and gave him a look that he knew meant he would not be staying in Ireland for much longer. 

“Why do you always have to involve me in your crazy schemes?” He complained while she just laughed at him and patted his head, and he heard footsteps on the stairs. He turned around to see Laura and the kids with heir bags at their feet and putting their shoes and coats on. He turned back to Nat and asked “Where exactly are we going?”

She smiled softly before saying “Steve needs us, in Wakanda.”

 

Wanda had been staying in Ukraine, where she blended in, even with her Sokovian accent, and no one recognized her. She had made the habit of coming to a small cafe’ every morning for a cup of tea to start her day.The loneliness that had set in since her prison break was all encompassing some days, and those were the days where she missed the avengers, the closest thing she had to a family since Pietro. 

Wanda sat there staring into her tea, and didn’t move until she heard a voice from behind her.

“Что я говорил о том , глядя через плечо?” (what did I say about looking over your shoulder?)

Wanda was shocked, and a little weary to be encountering Natasha Romanoff after the events of the last month. Wanda wondered whether she should be running, but that question left her mind when Natasha squeezed her shoulder and proceeded to sit down in front of her. The waitress came over to get Natasha’s order and she ordered in flawless Russian that even carried a faint Ukrainian accent. 

Once the waitress had brought Natasha her tea, Wanda waited for Natasha to get on with it. Natasha sipped her tea, while looking at Wanda over the edge of her cup. Once Natasha set her cup down, she began to speak.

“Steve, he’s in Wakanda, and he and Bucky need our help,” Natasha said straight forwardly. 

Wanda picked up her tea and finished it, and looked to Natasha, simply replying “When do we leave?”

Natasha had scrambled the whole team, but she couldn’t help but make one last phone call. She got his voicemail, just like she expected. 

At the beep she began “I know you're pissed, at all of us. But we need you. So please, get your head out of your ass and realize that your friends need you. Please, this is the one chance you have to make amends. I know Steve made mistakes, but so did you and you both just need to sit down and talk it out, because the rest of the team is back together, and we need you. You have a phone with a phone number, so when you change your mind, call it and come and join us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am probably butchering the Russian language in this chapter, but it all from google translate.


	3. Honey We're Home!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bands back together and back to their old tricks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I of course do not own Marvel, what a joke. Sorry for the update delay, I just had my hs graduation (hallelujiah) and am starting to work again so I'm getting back into the hang of my summer schedule.

Steve is a little wary about the “mission” Natasha has seemed to be on for the last few days. She had disappeared for about three days and had returned acting like she had a secret to hide. Not a malicious one, with her random smiling when she thought no one was looking. That being said, when there was a knock on the door a few days after Natasha’s return, Steve really should not have been surprised to see Sam on the other side of the door. 

Steve let out an incredulous laugh before leaning in to hug Sam tightly, and whispering “Natasha?” into his ear and receiving a laugh and nod from him. The men pulled away and turned to see the woman in question leaning back against the wall facing the door. Steve tried to look at her with a disapproving glance, but when Sam stepped up to her and picked her up in a hug, he couldn’t help but smile at her. 

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Sam, Steve and Natasha easily fell back into a familiar routine. Natasha caught Sam up on the situation, while Steve went down to the labs to inform Bucky of their newest guest. When he reached the room that Bucky had been provided close to the labs, Bucky was lying back on the bed and staring at the ceiling. Steve made more noise than usual when opening the door to the room, to give Bucky a warning that he was there. 

Bucky turned his head to look at him as he entered the door and waited for Steve to speak. “So Natasha got in touch with Sam, and brought him here. Just wanted to give you a heads up.”

Bucky smiled before turning back to staring at the ceiling. Steve was turning to leave when Bucky spoke “Stevie, knowing that woman I would be expecting more visitors than just Wilson.” Steve wanted to be surprised by Bucky’s statement, but he had been on the same mind track. He laughed and turned to exit the room, always leaving the door open to encourage Bucky to join the rest of them in the house. 

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Natasha had been in contact with several of her old contacts, trying to locate a doctor with the expertise to help James. She knew exactly who could help with the arm, but he would have to give up on the animosity between himself and Steve (and James) before that could happen. The Doctor she was looking for was a man by the name of Dr. Markam. He had been the one to help Natasha with her deprogramming, and she had no doubt that he could help James with his process. 

Natasha’s last shot at finding Markam, was through the avenue she probably should have tried first. She called the number Nick had left her just in case. As she dialed she figured this was a special circumstance so he should be ok with her calling him. The phone rang for a long time, and she was just about to hang up when the older man’s gruff voice came through the receiver

“What do you want Romanoff?” He barked when he answered the phone.

“I need to find Dr. Markam, the doctor who worked on my deprogramming. Or if not him a doctor with the same skill,” She answered immediately, knowing it was better for her to cut right to the chase with him. Nick Fury had never been a fan of sugar coating, and was an even lesser fan of it in his “death.”

There was silence across the line for a moment before Fury answered “Dubai. I expect that you can make it on your own from there.” With that answer he hung up. 

As she put her phone down, she couldn’t help but smile. He may have been an ass a lot of the time, but she really did miss Nick Fury.

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Natasha is waiting for something. That much Sam and Steve are sure of. She always checks her phone and then later checks the front door. Who or what she is waiting for is mostly a mystery to the men, but they both have their guesses. 

They get their answer two days later, when there comes a knock on the front door. Steve hesitates before opening the door, because he has a few guesses to who is on the other side, and he doesn’t want to put these people in any more danger than he already has. When Steve seems to be taking too long with the door, Nat rolls her eyes before pushing him aside and opening the door for him. 

She is glad to see that Clint has obeyed orders for once in his life, and picked up the man ant dude. In front of the two men is Wanda, looking better than the last time Natasha had seen her. Wanda smiles when Natasha pulls her into a hug, and laughs when Natasha murmurs something to her in Russian. The boys all look a little confused but Natasha and Wanda ignore them, and Natasha pulls Wanda through the door.

As she is walking away, Natasha calls back to Steve over her shoulder “Steve, it’s rude to leave guests standing in the doorway!” Steve huffs out a sigh but turns to look at Clint and Scott and says “Welcome to the crazy house.”

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Natasha waits all of 24 hours before telling the team that she and Clint have a quick trip to make. Everyone, including Clint, look a little confused and it looks like the questions are about to start until Natasha gives out her patented glare that stops all of the questions right in their track. 

Clint rolls his eyes when Natasha pulls him to the armory for him to grab his bow (thank you T’Challa) and for Nat to grab various weapons. The rest of the team stare at each other for a minute before they all just give up on trying to understand the Russian half of the original Strike Team Delta, and go their separate ways.

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Clint is piloting a quinjet of the Wakandan variety before he even thinks to ask Natasha why the hell they are headed to Dubai. Natasha’s answer speaks mountains to the whole situation as a whole. The pair have rarely spoke the name Markam after she had been deprogrammed. Natasha’s deprogramming had been a rough and long process, and Clint had been the only one there for her through it. 

When they land in the desert outside of Dubai, there was already a car waiting for them. Clit wanted to ask but he decided not to. This was obviously a very important mission, not only for Natasha, but for Steve. So Clint decided it was best to let Natasha run her course. 

They hopped into the car and drove into the city, ending up in front of a nice looking building, with all glass windows and security covering the entrance. Natasha drove buy the building and went another few block before pulling the car into an alley and getting out. She popped the trunk and pulled out a duffel bag that they had not put in the car. 

It seemed that Natasha was running her web with this mission. The duffel contained business clothes for the two of them, which would help them gain entrance to the building, along with the two fake key cards with two faces that were definitely not Clint and Natasha. Clint was looking at Natasha questioningly when she pulled out two masks * that would transform their faces to match the faces on the key cards. Clint laughed before putting his mask on and caught Natasha’s smirk in his peripheral. 

Natasha explained the plan to Clint once, but that was all he needed. “We are walking to the building we just profiled, Cantel Sciences. Markam works in a corner office on the 35th floor. We walk inside, swipe our key cards and then swipe again to enter the elevator. Entering is going to be the easier part. Exiting could be a little tricky if Markam is not willing to help us out. In that case we will knock Markam out, and exit the building through a service elevator that opens to the back of the building, from there we will make it back to the car and back to the quinjet.”

Natasha sounded confident that the plan would make for a simple in and out and Clint really hoped that ended up being true.

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Like Natasha had said, the entrance was easy. When they reached Markam’s office he was talking with a colleague. The two stood across from the office, looking to the rest of the floor like two co workers having a quick chat in the hall way. 

It was only a few minutes before Markam was alone again. Natasha entered the office with Clint pulling up the rear. As he closed the door, he closed the blinds on the door and window, as well as locking the door. When Clint turned back around, Natasha was sitting on Markam’s desk and Markam had a fearful look on his face. Clint stood back and let Natasha do the talking. Lucky for them, Markam seemed willing to come quietly and help, in return for his life.

They exited Markam’s office, and retraced their steps to the elevator. They made it to the ground floor before they reached trouble. The security fir the building seemed to have finally noticed the two people that were definitely not supposed to be there. Natasha and Clint walked at a slow pace with Markam between the two. As they passed the security kiosk, Natasha subtly threw a widow’s bite at the electronic box under the desk, causing multiple alarms to blare and the security goons to look on confused and to lose the three escapees in the crowd. 

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When Natasha and Clint returned to Wakanda, it was to Steve and Sam waiting for them. Nat and Clint had lost their disguises, and exited the quinjet with Markam in between them again. Steve looked on confused until Natasha spoke, “Steve, Sam, this is Dr. Kevin Markam, and he’s the one who is going to help Bucky.”

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Meanwhile…………

Tony had listened to Natasha’s message dozens of times. He was still beyond angry at Steve, and Bucky, but he was beginning to see reason he supposed. The man who had killed his parents was not the same man that was Steve’s best friend. Maybe it was time for Tony to put a little more effort into finding his team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In you guy's opinion, should this be a winter widow, romanrogers, or a Steve/Nat/Bucky. I can't decide. So leave me a comment with your choice!!


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Markam gets to work, there is a cute team moment, and then some sprinkles of Romanrogers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so like I'm so sorry about how long its been. I lost my desire to write, but after a super hero movie weekend IM BACK. Also I'm planning on posting a one shot based in Civil War soon as well so keep your eyes out. And as always, I own nothing and please let me know what you think and if you have any ideas for where this story should go :))

Following Natasha’s guidance, Steve led Markam to the lab where Bucky was being kept. Entering the lab, Markam seemed to lose his timidness and approached the Wakandan doctors immediately to begin talking about Bucky’s condition. Steve was not sure about the doctor Natasha had brought in, but he wa letting Natasha call the shots on this one, seeing as she was the only one with experience. Steve stood in the back of the lab with Natasha and watched as Markam finished his talk with the other doctors and approached Bucky where he sat on the padded bench. 

“Mr. Barnes, I want you to rest well tonight because tomorrow will begin our work on your Hydra programming,” Markam said to Bucky who was beginning to look a little green. “Now,” Markam said in a softer tone “do you have any questions for me?” 

Bucky looked timid as he spoke in a soft tone to the doctor. “Is there going to be a lot of pain?” He questioned. 

“Mr. Barnes,” Markam responded kindly “I have successfully rerouted Hydra programming multiple times. But I cannot speak on what one endures during the process.” At that Bucky looked a little chastised, but Markam continued. “Lucky for you son,” Markam said with a smile “You have living proof of one of those re programmings at your side to give you advice, as well as the man who helped her through it,” at his words Bucky turned his soft eyes towards Natasha who smiled softly and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“I think you will be just fine Mr. Barnes,” Markam concluded with a smile. He offered a simple goodbye, and after some final words with the other doctors, he left the lab. Steve turned back to the two behind him to see Natasha whispering some final words to Bucky. Bucky smiled up at her and squeezed the hand that was still on his shoulder. 

When Natasha took a step back, Steve took her spot and wrapped Bucky up in a tight hug. “Buck,” Steve said into his shoulder “you are going to be fine. You have all of us here and we are going to make sure you get out of this.” Bucky murmured his thanks as Steve pulled back from the hug and they smiled at each other before Steve stepped back into line with Natasha.

“Well James,” Natasha said in a light tone while placing her hand on Steve’s back “it seems you need some beauty sleep to get rid of those hideous dark circles before tomorrow.” Her teasing made Bucky smile brightly, and for a second, Steve could pretend that tomorrow he and Bucky would wake up and go exploring, not be sitting in a lab trying to free Bucky from the demons inside his head. 

“Спокойной ночи,” (goodnight James) Natasha spoke softly as she grabbed Steve’s hand and gently led him from the room. Steve smiled one last time at Bucky before the entered the hallway and the image of Bucky sitting in the bright white lab was gone from his vision. 

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Natasha led Steve to one of the many living rooms in T’Challa’s palace, where they found the rest of their team gathered. Clint, Laura and the kids were taking up a love seat, with Scott at their feet. Wanda was curled up in an oversized arm chair, and Sam was sitting at the end of a three seater couch and winked cheekily at Natasha and Steve while patting the seats next to him. 

Natasha laughed and pulled Steve to the couch, pushing him down into the edge seat so she was situated in between the two men. She tucked her feet under Sam’s thigh, ignoring his disgruntled huff, and leaned her upper body into Steve. She watched fondly as Clint and Scott debated on the best kid friendly movie to watch. She could almost believe the last few months had never happened, and the team was just in the tower gearing up for movie night, and Bruce and Tony were just downstairs in the lab, Rhodey and Pepper were trying to coax them upstairs, and Vision was in the kitchen observing his human teammates. 

She smirked as Clint and Scott seemed to finally decide on Moana (she knew it was Clint’s favorite) and snuggled even further into Steve’s side. She ignored Sam’s knowing glance from her other side and glanced up at her super soldier pillow. He was glancing down at her fondly, with a soft smile that made her insides warm. Natasha pulled her gaze from Steve’s and glanced back at her best friend only to see both he and his wife staring right back at her. Clint looked like he was trying to solve a puzzle while Laura looked like she had just found buried treasure. 

Natasha rolled her eyes and turned her eyes back to the screen. As she settled in she promised herself she wouldn’t fall asleep because she loved when Clint sang every song in the movie. She didn’t even make it to the second song before her eyes drifted drifted shut.

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Natasha woke when she felt herself being lifted into a pair of arms and pulled against a solid chest. She wrapped her arm around Steve’s neck and nuzzled into his neck as he carried her from the living room. “Your bed or mine?” He murmured into her hair. “Yours, duh,” she slurred out in a sleep riddled state. 

She felt his chuckle through her whole body as he pushed his door open. He carried her to the bedroom and set her down on the edge of the bed. She opened her eyes to see him rummaging around in his dresser. He pulled out one of his t shirts and a pair of sweatpants and offered them to her to change into. Natasha pulled herself off of the bed to change and stumbled out of her clothes and into his. By the time she was done, Steve was clad in only a pair of sleep pants and was crawling into his bed. 

Natasha climbed in right next to him and pulled the covers all the way up to her chin. Just as she was about to close her eyes again, she heard Steve speak. “Nat,” he started quietly “is tomorrow going to be as bad as I’m thinking?” Natasha squeezed her eyes shut tight before meeting his gaze. “Yes,” she whispered “but I’ll be there to help you and him through it.” Steve nodded tersely before leaning his head back onto the pillow. Natasha hesitated before she threw all caution to the wind and pulled herself into his side, resting her head above his heart and slinging her arm across his torso. As she closed her eyes, she felt him drop a kiss to the crown of her head, and she fell asleep with a soft smile on her face.


	5. The Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A heavy day for all, with some unexpected tests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello oops so sorry it has been a minute since I have updated this story but here I am. I am feeling really inspired and I am just hoping to keep it up. As always, I own nothing you recognize!!!

Steve has trouble sleeping that night for obvious reasons. When he does eventually wake from his brief slumber, it is to Natasha rolling out of bed. He props his body up on his elbow and observes the redhead as she goes to stand and gaze out of the wall of windows in Steve’s suite that looks out into the vast Wakandan jungle. Seeing the petite redhead standing there, with her hair mussed from sleep and in a shirt that dwarfs her frame, Steve can almost forget that he is going to be helping to put his best friend through some casual psychological torture this morning. 

At that thought Steve sits all the way up in bed and swings his legs to rest on the ground, resting his head in his hands as he tries to calm the panic rising in his chest. Natasha approaches him, and she makes as much noise as possible before she kneels in front of him, pulling his head out of his hands to rest in hers. He covers her hands with his as he closes his eyes and tries to calm down his nerves. 

He is so busy with his rising panic that he doesn’t even realize when Natasha began to murmur in Russian to him. When he does, he has something else to focus on other than his emotions, and after a few minutes, he feels solid enough to open his eyes. Natasha’s green eyes are looking deep into his, concern clear within her gaze.

“Are you alright?” she asks softly. All he does is nod in response, while he turns his head to push further into Natasha's hands. She chuckles before giving in and moving one of her hands to his blonde hair to begin scratching at his scalp. He has to try his hardest to try and not begin to purr like a cat, that would just be too embarrassing. 

The two are interrupted by a knock on Steve’s door. When he goes to stand and answer, Natasha shoves him back down with a smirk and makes her own way to the door. As she opens the door and he hears Clint’s distinctive voice, he decides to just go ahead and start to get dressed. Natasha closes the door and walks over to where Steve is rummaging through his drawers. 

“I’m going to run to my room to change ok?” She asks. He turns and gestures towards the door while saying “Yeah get going, I think I can get dressed by myself today.” He adds a wink at the end of his statement that has Natasha cracking a smirk before she sashays to the door. “I'll see you at the labs in ten,” she calls over her shoulder as she closes the door behind her. Steve looks at the spot she had just been standing in for a minute or two before he jolts out of his daze and continues getting dressed. 

 

Natasha is down by the lab approximately nine minutes later and is trying to appear calm and collected. In reality, Natasha’s mind has been running at lightning speed this morning. This whole process has been bringing back memories for the redhead that she would rather never have to relive again. When she hears two loud voices from down the hall, she jolts away from her slumped position against the wall. A few seconds later, T’Challa rounds the corner arguing with a young woman, and they are both followed by Okoye, the general of the Dora Milaje and one of T’Challa’s most trusted advisors. Natasha had had the opportunity to speak with Okoye during her stay and she found she liked Okoye greatly; maybe due to the similarities between the women in the way they were cold and calculated in the field but when around their team and friends, they were no longer the battle-weary women they had been molded into. 

“Listen! I am just telling you that you are still too wary of-” T’Challa cut off the young women across from who was clearly ranting at the King. The way her eyes narrowed at the Wakandan King, and the way T’Challa seemed suddenly wary, caused Natasha to let out a bark of laughter. At the sound of her laugh, T’Challa turned and smiled at the Russian and greeted her with a short bow, to which she cheekily replied with a deep curtsy. The King let out a booming laugh before speaking “Miss Romanoff, please allow me to introduce you to my younger sister Shuri. Shuri this is Natasha-.”

It was at that point that Shuri cut her brother off with bright eyes. “Also known as the Black Widow!” Shuri said excitedly, and Natasha was a little worried that she may start jumping up and down in excitement. As Natasha saw Steve coming to stand beside Okoye, Shuri began to rant “I really wanted to speak with you about your Widow’s bite. Does the technology behind it specifically target-” 

“All right sister!” T’Challa interjected with a chuckle “I believe it is time to get to work.” Shuri seemed slightly disappointed but nodded at her brother and turned to head into the lab. 

“Shuri!” Natasha called. When she had the Princess’ attention she continued “I would love to talk to you about my bites another time.” Natasha smiled reassuringly at the young woman, who shook her head enthusiastically and almost skipped into the lab. Natasha chuckled under her breath as she turned to the three people behind her. 

“Shuri will be working with Dr. Markham,” T’Challa stated, explaining his little sister's presence. “She is probably one of the smartest people in the world,” he continued with an eye roll. Natasha and Steve laughed at the King, who then proceeded to say his goodbyes, as he had his royal duties to tend to, but he would be returning in the evening. 

As T’Challa and Okoye retreated down the hall, Natasha heaved a great sigh before turning towards the lab where her ex-soviet partner was sitting. She looked to her left to see Steve looking as if he was about to run into the lab and drag Bucky away to keep him unharmed. She slid her small hand into his larger one and squeezed tightly. He eventually squeezed her hand back before walking forward, taking the redhead with him.

The two entered the lab to see Dr. Markham holding court with a few other doctors. Clint was standing in the corner of the room and stood as soon as Steve and Natasha entered and made his way over to them. Shuri was standing next to the man of the hour, seemingly taking James’ vitals and such, but also talking fast enough that James looked more confused than scared. 

Natasha nudged Steve towards his best friend and he smiled one last time at her, before releasing her hand and making his way over to join Shuri’s one-sided conversation. Natasha turned to her own best friend only to see him following Steve’s form with narrowed eyes. Natasha elbowed him in the side sharply, and Clint snapped out of his glaring contest and focused on the assassin at his side. 

Clint’s eyes softened before he began to speak. “Are you sure you want to be here for this?” He questioned carefully. “This is bound to bring up some tough memories for you.” Natasha knew he was expecting her to snap back at him, but she had been asking herself this same question.

“I need to be here,” she said softly, letting her eyes fall on the two men across the room “For both of them.” Clint stared at the side of her face for a moment before he nodded, and slung his arm over her shoulder kissing her hairline, before shoving her towards the two soldiers. She discreetly flipped Clint off behind her back, before grabbing a rolling stool to sit in front of James with. 

“Как дела?” (how are you) she asked the black haired man. James shrugged and refused to meet her or Steve’s eyes. “James,” She said sharply, nodding when his eyes snapped up to meet hers. “Today is going to be no joke. By the end of it, you are probably going to want to just give up, and leave the programming there. But I just want you to keep thinking about the fact that you can be free. It isn’t going to be any kind of walk in the park. But the hold those words have over you will be gone forever.” 

As Natasha finished talking, James searched her eyes, perhaps looking for any kind of indication that she didn’t actually believe what she was saying. When he found none, he nodded slowly to Natasha before turning his gaze to Steve who was smiling encouragingly at him.

Soon after Dr. Markham approached the trio. He placed a hand on James’ shoulder and smiled reassuringly as he told him that they were ready to begin. James looked back to Steve with a panicked look in his eyes. Steve grabbed his other shoulder and said “Buck, we are all going to be right here with you. You are going to be ok I promise.” James didn’t look all that reassured at the words from his best friend, but he did lay back when Dr. Markham nudged him into a reclining position. 

When Dr. Markham began scanning his notes, Natasha began to feel a little nauseous from nerves. When he actually began to speak, she did her best to steel herself and to keep her emotions in check. And it worked.

 

At least for a while.

 

Steve finds her soon after Bucky’s first session ended. The man had been exhausted, and Steve had left him to hopefully get some sleep. Natasha had bolted from the lab as soon as Markham had closed his notes and still managed to make it look like she was casually strolling out of a coffee meeting. 

Steve had checked both of their rooms, the common space, and Clint’s suite where Laura and the kids were, and still no Natasha. He made one last-ditch effort by heading to the roof of the building, where the view of the sunset and the stars was the clearest. Steve found her in a corner of the roof, pressed into it so that she was covered from all sides. As Steve walked closer, he began to realize that her breathing was extremely labored and she was making noises that wouldn’t be uncommon had she been injured. 

Steve slowed his approach, taking care to make more noise than he usually did so as not to distress her anymore. Natasha stiffened as he got closer, but she didn’t bolt, so he took that as a sign to continue forward. He sat down across from her, just shy of touching her, but a quick shift could change that. 

Natasha hadn’t been expecting it to be like this. When she had been in that room, hearing Markhams almost hypnotic voice, seeing James thrash against his restraints and roar like a wounded animal, seeing the look in his eyes each time Markham touched a trigger. Natasha felt that in her soul. Each time he struggled, had been like an arrow in her own heart. This just went to show that even though she acted the opposite, Natasha was affected by the things the job put her through. 

Steve waited until her breathing had slowed a little bit before touching her. He gently rested his hand on her shoulder, and though she flinched at first, after a moment she spoke to him shakily, “Will you please just hold me for a second.” Steve scooped her small form up, settling her sideways across his lap so he could envelop her in his arms, and she could feel his body heat; so she would feel safe.

The two stayed in that position until Natasha eventually fell asleep. Steve stood with her in his arms, intending on taking her to his room and trying to keep her nightmares away for the night. As he approached the door, he was startled to see a figure leaning against it, from where they had been observing Natasha and Steve on the roof. Clint stepped forward away from the door and lifted his gaze from Natasha's body, locking intense eyes with Steve. After a moment of feeling as if he was searching Steve’s soul, Clint gave a sharp nod and stepped aside to allow Steve through the door with his partner. 

 

As he walked back to his suite, Steve couldn’t help but feel like he had just passed some kind of test.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one shot as of right now but if there is any interest I would be happy to write some more chapters!


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